Software applications are sometimes subject to updates, such as when new versions of an application are produced, when patches are created, or for other reasons. While many benefits are associated with updating an application, updates can lead to frustration when they occur at inopportune or inconvenient times.
Updates can be time consuming and inconvenient because the application being updated (or upgraded) must be halted for a period of time while the directories, files, registry keys, and other elements of the application are downloaded, extracted, and written to disk. Downloading an update can take a substantial amount of time, as can extracting and writing the files to disk. Such inconveniences encourage users to put-off updating their software applications or, in some cases, to avoid updates entirely.
In the field of virtual machines, applications that are installed on virtual machines may also be subject to update processes. However, the nature of virtual machines is such that updating an application on a virtual machine may, in some examples, take even longer to update than its desktop counterpart. In enterprise environments where large numbers of virtual machines are employed, application maintenance and updates can be a very arduous task for personnel to manage.
The frequency with which applications are updated has increased as of late, which only exacerbates some of the downsides to updating an application. In the distant past, software updates were released only occasionally via disk. As online updates proliferated, annual, bi-annual, or quarterly updates were not uncommon. A recent trend is towards even more frequent software updates, with some applications receiving updates monthly, weekly or even daily, straining the ability of personnel to accommodate them.